Chuck vs the Rehearsal Dinner
by sharpasamarble
Summary: The calm after the storm: Chuck and his teammates attend the rehearsal dinner, where Chuck has an introspective moment. One-shot.


_Quick little one-shot at what might have happened at the rehearsal dinner. Falls between 2.21 and 2.22._

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* * *

The private room at the restaurant buzzed with the sounds of happy conversation. Three long rectangular tables were arranged into a horseshoe, filled with people toasting the upcoming nuptials of Eleanor Bartowski to Devon Woodcomb.

Chuck looked around the room. All the pieces were in place, but something felt a bit off.

Why did he feel disconcerted? Was it paranoia honed by eighteen months of spy work? Was it realism knowing that Fulcrum, while having suffered a major defeat, was not likely to just vanish into the wind? Or was it the newness of everything that had happened and the fear of having so much to lose? He started examining the guests, trying to solve the puzzle.

The radiant couple sat at the center of the head table, the sister who knew nothing about Chuck's other life and the fiancé who now knew far too much. The sister spoke with Orion, the long-lost but greatly desired creator of the Intersect who had only recently come out of hiding.

Chuck was fairly certain that his NSA agent neighbor who so freely joked with Devon's brothers carried at least two guns. In fact, scattered around the restaurant were no fewer than three other agents who were going to ensure that Fulcrum didn't get anywhere close to Orion without paying a heavy price.

Chuck was pretty sure how Ellie would react if she found out there was a small arsenal of weapons concealed beneath the fine clothes of her rehearsal dinner guests. He knew how she would react if she found out that her brother's girlfriend, and one of her bridesmaids, often had a sheath of knives concealed beneath her clothes.

"Hey," Sarah said, nudging him playfully with her shoulder. "You all right?" She looked at him with those earnest eyes, the ones that so carefully gauged his mood while letting him know she was ready to listen, no matter what was on his mind. How she could always sense when something was amiss, he'd never understand, but she did.

He dragged his eyes back around the room to reassess. Ellie laughed fondly at something said by her father, by their father, her defenses slowly dropping as she became convinced that the man wasn't some kind of mirage who would evaporate if she looked away. Devon caught Chuck looking at him and gave him the nod of a man who may not understand everything that was going on, but had faith in Chuck and truly had his back, no matter what. Casey, the friend and not the agent, took a sip from his neat scotch and laughed at a joke made by one of Devon's brothers as he let his guard down and enjoyed himself for a moment.

And then there was Sarah, the real Sarah, the one no longer constrained by her job, the one who wouldn't be constrained by her job. Most men would have been distracted by the dress and the breathtaking frame that it accentuated, and it would have been difficult to blame them. Still, it wasn't her beauty that took his breath away. It was the way this amazing woman looked at him, a perfect balance of caring and respect and trust that made him feel capable of taking on the world. After all, that's what they'd done together. They had taken on the world, and for now, they had won.

It was hard to forget that he was free, free of the Intersect, free of the spy world, free to pursue his own life the way he chose to live it. No, he was among family and friends, and there was no place he'd rather be.

"Yeah," Chuck finally answered, marveling. "I'm better than all right. In fact, I'm almost perfect."

The assessing look vanished, replaced by a radiant smile. "And what would make it perfect?" she asked gently.

His hand moved from his napkin to find her hand, running his fingers across her warm skin until his fingers profoundly interlaced with hers. She shivered the slightest bit as they both watched their hands slowly mesh into one. So many times he had wanted to do that, and so many times one of his dual lives kept that from being possible. Now his lives were intertwined much like their fingers, making everything seem possible.

Fulcrum might be out there, but they couldn't take this moment away from him.

Their hands tightened into a promise. "You know," he said with a profound tone, "I think I'm about there."

* * *

Sarah smiled at his words and held his hand as tightly as she dared. It was real. Everything was real.

What was also real was that, when an assignment was over, a CIA officer had to move on. Chuck was no longer the Intersect, so the assignment was certainly over.

She tried to push such thoughts from her mind.

The CIA might be out there, but they couldn't take this moment away from her.

The night was theirs, and if they had somehow made it this far, if somehow their feelings had won past everything that had stood in their way, there had to be some way to make it all work in the end.

There just had to be.


End file.
